Watercraft



March 7, 1944. A, A, RUSTEBERG 2,343,711

WATERCRAFT Filed April 3, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 elli March 7, 1944.

A. A. RUsTEBl-:RG

WATERCRAFT Filed April 3, 1942 WATERCRAFT Filed April 5, 1942 4Sheets-Sheet 5 QM. mm

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March 7, 1944,

WATERCRAFT Fig/:

A. A. RUsTl-:BERG

Filed April 3, 1942 j as -w er.

/f f4, QL? E f 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar. 7, 1944 WATERCRAFT AugustA. Rusteberg, Chicago, Ill. Y

Application April s, 1942, serial No; 437,474

2 Claims. (Cl. 115-16) This invention relates to watercraft and isdirected more particularly to means for propelling the craft throughwater with increased efciency.

An important object of the invention is to provide watercraft, either ofthe surface-going or the submarine type, with means which utilizes agreater percentage of the power output of the prime mover than hasheretofore been utilized.

Another object of the invention isto provide propulsion means forwatercraft which discharges'the water engaged thereby in a confined massto more emciently utilize the reaction of.

the discharge of this confined mass against the body of water rearwardlythereof to more eiiciently attain forward motion of the craft.

Heretofore it has been the practice to propel watercraft by means of thereaction obtained by the engagement of the propeller blades with thewater. However, in the present instance, while the latter concept isavailable to obtain forward propulsion of the craft, it is augmented bythe reaction created by the discharge of a concentrated mass against thesolid, relativelyimmobile body of water rearwardly of the propellingmechanism.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a propulsionmechanism for watercraft which effectively eliminates the detrimentalresults of torque reaction of the craft relative thereto whereby tiltingof the craft beamwise is effectively eliminated.

Many other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a. side elevational view of a watercraft embodyingmy invention;

Figure 2 represents a top plan view of a watercraft embodying myinvention;

Figure 3 represents a fragmentary front elevational view of the lowerportion of the Watercraft as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line IV-IVof Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the lineV-V of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the lineVI-VI of Figure 4.

The embodiment disclosed herein is for illustrative purposes and may bevaried or modified without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figures 1 and 2, suitablewatercraft embodying my V.invention may include a hull IU and anysuitable superstructure II which, inthe present' in-v stance, is shownas a turret structurehaving a transparent upper portion I2 and asomewhat streamlined lower portion I3.

'Ihe propulsion mechanism embodying my invention includes a pair oflaterally disposed tubular members I4. which are disposed longitudinallyof the hull I .and secured therebeneath in any suitable manner.l InV thepresent in stance, the hull is provided with a bottom Iii having itslateral outward portions streamlinedasat I6 and its lower portioncon'gurated to provide a pair of longitudinally disposed, downwardlyopen trough-like receptacles Il in which the vtubes I4 may be placed andto which they may be secured, as by welding, if the hull is metal. I

The tubes I4 are open at both the fore and aft ends, thereby to permitthe free flow of a' conned mass of water-therethrough in a manner to bedescribed presently. Y

Each of the tubes is provided at the fore and aft openings thereof withdiametrically disposed cross pieces I8 and I9, respectively, which havetheir ends welded or otherwise securely attached to the wall of thetubes. I

Centrallyv disposed on each of the crossV pieces I8 and I9 are bearings20 and 2|, respectively,

e fromY Figures l, 4, and 5, the blades ofthe for-l ward propellers 23have their outer tips secured to a ringr 25, each of which has itsforward inner surface beveled outwardly to more eiiiciently cut throughthe water and each of which is provided on the aft portion of its outersurface with gear teeth 26 for engaging the motivating mechanism as willbe seen presently. The tips of the blades of propellers 24 are likewisesecured to ring members 2l which constitute, in effect, extensions ofthe respective tubes I4.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the tubes I4 are provided foreand aft with propeller assemblies which are securely mounted for freerotation within the tubes.

It will be readily understood that, upon rotation of the fore and aftblades simultaneously in a tube construction such as that describedabove, the Water will be drawn into the forward end of the tube as itcomes within the influence of the forward propeller and, thereafter,forced backwardly and nally expelled as a concentrated mass travelinggenerally in the same sense, but opposite direction to the desiredmovement of the watercraft. This ejected, concentrated mass of waterthereupon strikes the relatively immobile mass of water behind the tubewith the result that a greatly enhanced forward motion of the Watercraftis obtained because of the combined effect of the reaction of thepropeller blades against the Water as they strike the same and thereaction of the Watercraft to the impact of the ejected, concentratedmass of water against the immobile mass thereof.

By the provision of two laterally disposed compam'on tubes having mypropeller construction incorporated therein, two advantageous resultsare obtained. First, the reaction of the watercraft, which results inforward motion, is doubled and, second, a compensating torque effect isobtained.

With regard to the latter, it is found that in the use of a single tube,the water passing therethrough tends to follow a screw-like path withthe result that the reaction of the craft, due to the ejection of theconcentrated mass of water in this manner against the immobile mass ofWater, results in a beamwise tilting of the craft since a torque systemis thus set up.

To the end that the latter diiiiculty may be obviated, the laterallydisposed sets of propellers shown herein are provided with oppositeangles and are connected in such a manner that they revolve in oppositedirections, whereby in both cases the propulsion of the water will betoward the rear of the craft. Thus, it will be seen that the screw-likepath of the water through each of the tubes will be in an opposeddirection, whereby the reaction of the watercraft to each is offset bythe reaction thereof to the other.

In order that the opposite motion described above may be obtained, thegear teeth 26 connected to the forward propeller of each tube areintermeshed, whereby movement of one will cause opposite rotativemovement of the other.

The motivating mechanism for the companion sets of propellers describedabove may take any suitable form and is shown herein as including aninternal combustion engine 21 having a drive shaft 28 upon which ismounted a drive gear 29 having teeth adapted to mesh with a driven gear30 xedly secured upon a suitable shaft 3|` to which is also xedlysecured a driven gear 32. Thus, it will be seen that rotation of theshaft 28 by the engine 2l will set the above described gear train inmotion, whereby one of the gear rings 26 will be driven thereby to drivethe companion gear ring and the propellers associated therewith.

To the end that the above gear mechanism may be housed in such a mannerthat the water will not enter into the interior of the hull I 0, thelatter is provided with a transverse upwardly and inwardly disposedhousing 33 which is aligned transversely of the hull with the gear rings26, and in which are mounted the shafts 28 and 3l by means ofWater-tight bearings. It will be understood, of course, that othermechanisms for driving the propeller assembly may be provided.

If desired, means may be provided for protecting the propellers fromsolid objects or from sea growth, whereby they might become clogged. Tothis end, a suitable grating assembly 34 is provided, this assemblyincluding transverse grill members 35 which are suitably supported as bysupporting elements 35 and 31 secured to the hull in any suitablemanner.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided herein apropulsion assembly for watercraft which affords increased efficiencyand the utilization of a larger percentage of the output of the primemover than has been utilized heretofore. Furthermore, there is providedherein a propulsion mechanism so arranged and constructed that thewatercraft, due to the ow of a column of water through the tubularmembers, retains its path of movement with increased efciency whetherthis path be in a straight line or in a curve as directed by the pilotof the watercraft.

What I claim is:

1. In a watercraft, a hull, tubular means secured to a submerged portionof the hull, said tubular means having open ends fore and aft and apropeller assembly mounted in each open end, one of said propellershaving a ring gear connected with the tips of the blades thereof, meansfor xedly securing the propellers together, and means for engaging saidring gear for driving said propellers.

2. In a watercraft, a hull, laterally disposed open-ended tubularmembers secured to a submerged portion of the hull with the open endsthereof disposed fore and aft in longitudinal alignment relative to thehull, propellers in the fore end of each tube, said propellers eachhaving a ring gear secured around the tips of the blades thereof, saidring gears enmeshing to afford opposite, simultaneous rotation of saidpropellers, and means for driving said propellers.

AUGUST A. RUSTEBERG.

